Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dts Accreditation Prelog topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DFS passes major reassessment with five nonconformities; pre-log e-submissions near launch
Summary
DFS reported results of a full reassessment visit: conformity on most criteria, five nonconformities related to FBI QAS, documentation consistency, chromatography observations and reporting clarity; DFS plans appeals and corrective actions and is close to launching an electronic pre-log submission system.
Technical Services staff reported the results of a full accreditation reassessment conducted in September and described corrective actions aimed at addressing five nonconformities raised by assessors.
Alka Lohman, Division of Technical Services, said 26 assessors visited DFS and the agency was the first system audited against the FBI’s new DNA Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) as part of NDIS-related requirements. The assessment found DFS conformed to 184 accreditation criteria and identified five nonconforming items, Lohman said.
Lohman summarized the nonconformities: several staff had not completed designated continuing-education readings within calendar year deadlines; portions of the impressions (toolmark/impression) manual did not document procedures consistently across multiple laboratories and will be revised; some controlled-substances documentation did not include original thin-layer-chromatography observations in the examination record; and reporting language was judged insufficiently clear in a small number of visual-observation reports. One finding relates to interpretation of how the FBI QAS is implemented; Lohman said the agency will appeal one aspect to NDIS because of wording ambiguities.
Lohman said DFS will submit corrective-action plans to the lead assessor within the required 30-day window and expects a final accreditation decision after implementation and acceptance of those plans. She also described other quality-management efforts: an annual management review, expansion of continuing education deadlines, and the pending launch of a pre-log electronic evidence submission portal (an electronic request for laboratory examination) that will generate sequential item numbers and provide signed submission receipts in place of existing multi-copy paper forms.
Lohman said the pre-log system will produce receipts tying agency item numbers to DFS sequential item numbers, a feature intended to simplify courtroom testimony. She said DFS has already produced training modules for pre-log beta testers and expects a broader rollout "in a few weeks," contingent on recent LIMS changes.
The committee had no questions after the DTS update.
